Chapter 78 : Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Support (1)

I spread [Wings of Ainsitel].

Then, I picked up my pace to escape.

I had already put some distance between me and my pursuers.

But completely shaking them off seemed difficult.

They, too, increased their speed, tenaciously keeping up.

I had tracked demons plenty of times, but being the one pursued was a first.

I couldn’t discern their intentions.

Still, I had to prepare for the possibility of a fight.

‘If it comes to a battle… the forest would be best.’

I couldn’t gauge the rank of my enemies from this distance, but I could tell their number.

Three pursuers.

It would be better than facing a coordinated attack in an open field.

Fortunately, having trained in the area for a while, I knew the terrain well.

I flew into the forest and took my position.

A dense broadleaf forest.

The sunlight, fragmented by the leaves, couldn’t fully penetrate.

Even at this moment, the three pursuers were closing in.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Soon, a trio in masks appeared before me.

They looked suspicious at a glance.

They were panting, likely exhausted from chasing me.

“Why are you following me?”

“You need to come with us, Polarin Adjak-nim.”

One of them said my name precisely.

They knew exactly who I was and had followed me.

I moved slowly between thick tree trunks, responding.

“Who are you to ask me to come along? Do I have any reason to go with you?”

“We can’t disclose our affiliation. But we wish to escort you respectfully.”

Irritation surged.

First the Third Prince, and now these people—why were they all harassing me?

They wore masks and refused to reveal their group.

I had no reason to follow them.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then we’ll have to take you by force.”

One of them drew a sword, immediately infusing it with aura.

The other two pursuers also drew their weapons.

One held daggers in both hands, while the other raised a massive greatsword.

Their weapons, too, were imbued with aura.

Three at Fifth-Rank.

They weren’t Sixth-Rank or higher.

Facing them, I could roughly gauge their level.

Could I win against three opponents of my own rank?

They didn’t seem to consider the possibility of defeat.

“It might get a bit rough.”

I, too, wanted to test myself.

How well could I handle three opponents of the same Fifth-Rank?

Their breathing was still uneven.

I didn’t give them time to recover.

I activated [Fear].

Though they wore masks, their eyes were visible, and I could feel their pupils trembling.

Among the three frozen figures, I first [Rushed] toward the one with the greatsword.

As I moved swiftly, I generated aura.

The mana formed in a fleeting moment wasn’t weak by any means.

Soon, it enveloped the Branch of the World Tree, taking on a solid form.

The brief gap created by [Fear].

In combat, even a momentary freeze was far from trivial.

I slashed diagonally across the chest of the greatsword wielder.

“Urgh!”

It seemed impossible for him to break free of the stiffness and dodge my attack simultaneously.

It wasn’t a deep cut, but it was a solid hit.

I had no intention of killing.

Though I had killed a dark mage in the erosion zone, I wasn’t about to become desensitized to taking lives.

But I needed to neutralize them completely.

I reversed my grip on the sword and struck the wound on his chest with the pommel.

Crack! Blood gushed from the wound again with the sound.

I saw his eyes glaze over beneath the mask.

The largest of the pursuers collapsed with a thud.

During this, the remaining two didn’t charge at me.

They had already shaken off [Fear].

Though fear might linger, they weren’t so weak as to be paralyzed by it alone.

They aimed their weapons at me, as if assessing my strength.

If I were in their position, I would’ve rushed in, but they chose differently.

With just two attacks, I had neutralized one of them, so they probably hadn’t gleaned much.

I circled slowly, keeping a thick tree in front of me.

The two pursuers approached cautiously, maintaining their distance.

Their breathing had steadied.

Tension hung in the air.

The dense forest made it hard for them to attack together, but it wasn’t easy for me to deal with them here either.

The space between the trees was too narrow to fully spread [Wings of Ainsitel], and unless I wanted to start a forest fire, [Flame of the Spirit] was limited.

‘So what? I don’t think I’ll lose.’

The moment that thought crossed my mind, the corners of my mouth turned up involuntarily.

I had plenty of other weapons.

At the same rank, I could dominate.

Did my smirk bother them?

The dagger-wielding pursuer leapt forward swiftly.

But it wasn’t a problem.

Termination.

I drew a three-dimensional magic circle, establishing a domain around me.

A powerful flow of mana surged.

But the pursuer didn’t flinch and kept charging.

At the same time, the other pursuer rushed in.

The dagger wielder was fast.

He moved side to side, weaving unpredictably, lightly stepping on trees.

But he was already within Termination’s domain.

Even without tracking him with my eyes, I could sense the mana flow clearly.

No matter how erratic his movements, I wasn’t fooled.

The same went for the other pursuer charging alongside him.

When the swordsman thrust his blade at me, the aura on his sword began to dissipate subtly.

Aura is a form of mana.

It didn’t vanish completely, but what remained on his blade was pitifully weak.

The pursuer’s eyes widened.

I parried his sword and spun, swinging my blade widely at the dagger wielder trying to approach from behind a tree.

The dagger wielder quickly dodged by kicking off the ground.

But he, too, looked startled.

“…It must be that magic you showed at the Exchange Event. Be careful.”

This was surprising.

They even knew about the magic I had presented at the Exchange Event.

It seemed they had detailed information that would be hard to know without connections to mages.

They quickly moved out of Termination’s domain, likely strategizing how to fight.

But the domain wasn’t fixed.

As I moved, it followed, and they would inevitably be trapped again.

Unlike my opponents, whose mana manipulation was restricted within Termination’s domain, my ability to wield mana was greatly enhanced.

This allowed me to move faster than usual, making it easier to handle the pursuers.

I relentlessly targeted the agile, hard-to-pin-down dagger wielder.

He changed directions freely, climbing trees and moving erratically to escape.

But within Termination’s domain, tracking his position was effortless.

I didn’t let the squirrel-like dagger wielder, scrambling up trees, get away.

I [Rushed] toward a tree trunk and thrust my sword.

Boom!

The sword split the thick tree like a bombardment.

No matter how impressive his movements, the dagger wielder couldn’t easily maneuver while suddenly falling from midair.

With the mindset of a predator awaiting its prey, I watched him flail as he fell.

I easily parried the sword of the other pursuer rushing to help and pierced the shoulder of the falling dagger wielder with my sword.

“Ugh.”

The pursuer gritted his teeth but couldn’t suppress a groan.

I struck the back of his neck with my hand, knocking him out as he slumped to the ground.

Meanwhile, the swordsman charged at me several times, but it wasn’t an issue.

After confirming the second pursuer was unconscious, I tripped the swordsman’s ankle, easily subduing him.

I held my sword to his throat.

Neutralizing three opponents of the same rank wasn’t particularly difficult.

I had grown this much.

But I didn’t let myself get carried away and began questioning him.

“Are you ready to reveal who you are now?”

“…”

It seemed he wasn’t ready.

He stayed silent.

I roughly tore off the mask covering his face.

It wasn’t a face I recognized.

I needed to make him reveal his identity.

“Your affiliation?”

“…”

“If you don’t talk, I’ll kill them one by one.”

I gestured with my chin toward the fallen pursuers, threatening him.

It wasn’t my true intention, but I kept my expression neutral to avoid giving it away.

He tried to hold firm, but when I raised my sword toward the dagger wielder, he spoke, clearly frustrated.

“The Imperial Intelligence Agency.”

“Why is the Imperial Intelligence Agency after me? It’s not like you’re here to casually exchange information. Did the Third Prince send you?”

“We operate directly under the Emperor. We’re not acting on the Third Prince’s orders.”

“It’s even harder to believe the Emperor ordered you to capture me.”

But I didn’t get a response.

I felt a distortion in the mana flow nearby.

A small portal appeared and a person stepped through, tearing it open.

Just in case, I kept Termination active.

I could still handle the mana output.

That’s why I could sense it clearly.

‘Stronger than me.’

He surveyed the situation and spoke, not to me, but to the swordsman.

“That’s enough.”

Then he addressed me.

“Could you stop there, Polarin-nim?”

Two more people emerged from the portal behind the mage.

All three seemed to be at least Sixth-Rank.

Sixth-Rank and above wasn’t something you saw often.

Yet all three here felt like Sixth-Rank or higher.

Even with my hidden cards, facing all three of them…

‘It’d be tough. Are they also with the Imperial Intelligence Agency?’

I had fought enemies of higher ranks before, but I couldn’t picture winning against three.

Still, I replied without showing my unease.

“You barge in demanding I come with you, and now you barge in telling me to stop.”

“Our apologies for the rudeness. It seems they misunderstood our superiors’ intentions and acted overzealously.”

“Why is the Imperial Intelligence Agency after me?”

The moment I mentioned the “Imperial Intelligence Agency,” the atmosphere, which had been softening, shifted again.

“Come with us, and you’ll find out. It’s not something that will harm you, Polarin-nim. We want to be on the same side as you.”

For all their talk, the two who arrived with the mage had already positioned themselves on either side of me.

Their intent to take me by force was clear.

I tightened my grip on my sword.

Who should I strike first?

That was the only thought filling my mind.

I didn’t know what they meant by “same side,” but given the Empire’s behavior, going with them felt unsettling.

Woo-woo-woo!

Suddenly, the sound of a horn echoed.

And the crisp, disciplined sound of footsteps followed.

The mage gestured for one of his men to move.

But there was no need.

A guard unit bearing the flag of Manoa Barony soon surrounded us from all sides.

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